[net.ai] Program Specification Langu

reddy@uiucdcs.CS.UIUC.EDU (10/04/85)

/* Written  1:04 pm  Sep 30, 1985 by os@cstvax.UUCP in uiucdcs:net.ai */

"The purpose of a specification is to characterize the correct implementations.
Hence specifications are equivalent iff they admit the same implementations; to
distinguish "terminating" and "nonterminating" specifications does not make
sense (it's like distinguishing specifications written in black and blue).  If
you write a specification with operational concerns in mind (termination or
efficiency), as you have to in languages such as PROLOG, you are
programming."

Oliver Schoett

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"Termination" in the operational sense equates to "provable" or "deducible"
in the logical sense, or "true in all models" in the model-theoretical
sense.  While which terminology one uses may depend on one's own sense, the
intent should be clear.

Uday Reddy